Sewing-machine.



0. ASHTON.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men SEPT. 2, 1913.

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SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 2, 1913.

l 1 44 95 G Patented June 29, 1915.

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KN MW 6. 15M.

0. ASHTON.

SEWING HACHlRE.

APPLICATIOH mu) SEPT- 2. 19:3.

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SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 2. 1913.

1, 144 5., H Patented June 29, 1915.

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WTA/ESSES.

ORRELL ASHTON, 0F SWAMJPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SEWING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1915.

Application filed. September 2, 1913. Serial No. 787,606.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that T, 0mm. ASHTON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Swampscott, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to sewin machines and is herein shown as embodie in a machine of the tyge shown and described in United States atent No. 873,338, granted to me December 10, 1907.,

The presentinvention has forone of its objects to provide an improved feed mechanism as w1ll be described, which is simple, inexpensive and more efiicient than that shown in the patent referred to.

The particular featuresof this invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end ofv-this specification.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying this invention. Fig. 2, a side elevation of the'upper part of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. .3, a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. i, a detail in elevation ofa portion of the needle-operating mechanism to be referred to. Fig. 5, a detail in section and elevation of the feed mechanism to be referred to and Fig. 6, a modification of the feed mechanism to be referred to.

The invention is herein shown as embodied in a portable machine of the same general character as that shown and described in the patent referred to,- except as to features which will be hereinafter pointed out.

Referring to the drawings, (1 represents a base mounted upon wheels I) and provided with a column or post 0, to which the head d is detachably secured in a novel manner as will be described.

The head (1 supports the stitchforming mechanism as will be described, by which the work, such as the ends of two lengths or webs ofcloth may be sewed together.

The post or column 0 supports a movable carrier for the Work, said carrier being shown as a wheel 10 mounted to turn on a stud shaft 12 and having fast to it a gear 13, which mesheswith a pinion 1 1 onfia shaft 1 5, provided with a gear 16, which meshes with a pinion 17 loose on a main shaft 18 provide with a pulley 19 having a crank pin 20, which is connected by a rod 21 with the foot treadle 22. The pinion 17 is loose on the main shaft 18, but is operatively connected therewith by a pawl or dog 23, carried by a crank on themain shaft, said crank being shown as arms 24 on a collar 25 fast on the main shaft. The pawl or dog 23 is held in engagement with thepinion 17 by a spring 26 (see Fig. 2), which acts on the dog to effect rotation of the pinion 17 by rotation of the main shaft, and which permits the pinion 17 to be rotated independently of the main shaft, for a purpose as will be described.

The rotatable carrier or wheel 10 su ports the cloth or other work (not shown and carries a plurality of devices for engaging the cloth or other work, whereby the latter is carried to the stitchforming mechanism.

lln the present instance, the devices referred to are shown as pointed pins 30, (see Figs. 1 and 5), which are stationary with relation to the wheel 10 and have their pointed ends extended beyond the rim of the said wheel so as to penetrate the work thereon.

, Provision is made for disengaging the work from the pointed pins at the proper time in the movement of the carrier or wheel 10. To this end, the pointed pins have cooperating with them devices, which are movable with the carrier 10 and also are movable with relation to the carrier and to the stationary pins, and the function of these de vices is to remove the cloth or work from the pins after it has been stitched. In the present instance, the disengaging devices are shown as rods or bars 31 normally located in grooves or slots 32 in the rim of the carrier or wheel 10 and extended transversely thereof, said rods having extended from them arms 33, which extend through the rim of the wheel and through guiding studs 34 attached to the spokes thereof. Therods or bars 31 are normally held against the rim of the wheel by springs 35, which encircle the arms between the inner circumference of the rim of the wheel 10 and cross pins 36 carried by the arms 33. The .rods or bars 31 are provided with openings 37 through which the pointed ends of the pins 30 normally project, so as to penetrate the cloth or other work and feed the same to the stitchforming mechanism. The bars or rods 31 are moved with the, carrier 10 and are also moved independently thereof and away therefrom in a substantially radial direction, so as to lift the cloth or work away from the rim of the said carrier, and off of the pointed ends of the pins, so as to disengage the work from the feed mechanism, after the work has been stitched. This radial movement of the lifting bars or rods is effected as herein shown by a cam disk 38, mounted on the shaft 12 and capable of being turned thereon to properly position it with relation to the arms 33, so that the latter will engage a portion of the periphery of the cam disk at the proper time to move them radially into their operative position as represented in Fig. 1.

In the present instance, five disengaging or lifting devices are shown, and by reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the arms 33 of three of said devices are in engage ment with the cam disk 38, and two arms are out of contact with the cam disk and are in their inoperative position with the feed pins projecting through them and capable of engaging the cloth or work. The cam disk 38 may be secured on the shaft 12 in its adjusted position thereon by a nut 39 or otherwise. When the carrier in its rotation in the direction of'the arrow 40, Fig. 1, brings the arm 33 of the lifting device into contact with the cam disk 38, the liftin device is moved radially and lifts the clot or work off of the feed pin 30 and thus frees it from the feed mechanism. By lifting the cloth or work off of the feed pins, a surer disengagement of the cloth from the feed ins, especially if the cloth is wet, is effected.

In addition, the machine is materially simplified and its cost reduced. The machine is provided with a novel stitch-forming mechanism by means of which loose parts are dispensed with and frequent adjustments and care of the machine in order to keep it in efficient working condition, are avoided. To this end, the needle 41 is secured to a bar 42 bent substantially at right angles and having an arm 43 secured as by a set screw 44 to a crank or arm 45 fast on a rock-shaft 46 (see Fig. 3), having bearings in the head at of the machine, and provided with a second crank or arm 47, which is secured to a crank or block 48 on a pin 49, eccentrically mounted in a pulley 50 fast on a one-piece rotatable shaft 51, having bearings in the head 0? and on which is fastened the looper 52 (see Fig. 5), which oooperates with the needle 41 in a manner well understood.

The crank 47 of the rock-shaft 46 is shown as extended through the block 48 and is secured thereto by collars or nuts 53 (see Fig. 4).

The pulley 50 on the looper shaft 51 is driven by a belt 55 from the pulley 19 on the main shaft, and rotation of the looper shaft effects oscillation of the rocleshaft 46 and thereby effects an oscillatory reciprocation of the needle 41. It will thus be seen, that there is a positive connection between the needle 41 and the looper shaft 51, and further that the latter shaft is in one piece, and as a result, loose and sliding parts are dispensed with, and the necessity for frequent adjustment of such parts is avoided, and that in the present case, the parts when once adjusted remain in their proper position for an indefinite time, with the result that the stitch-forming mechanism of the machine, is not only maintained in its most effective condition, but the cost of maintenance is reduced to a minimum.

The machine is also provided with a tension device for the thread 60 supplied to the needle 41, whereby the position of the tension device with relation to the needle may be changed substantially in an instant, so

'as to regulate the length of thread supplied to the needle according to the thickness of the work being sewed, without changing or interfering with the tension on the thread. To this end, the tension disks or members 62, 63 of usual construction (see Fig. 3) are mounted upon a rod or arm 64, which is pivotally mounted in the head (Z of the machine and is frictionally secured by a screw 65 or otherwise, so as to hold the tension device in its adjusted position but so as to enable the rod or arm 64 to be turned, by the operator merely depressing or lifting the free end of the rod or arm 64.

One of the tension members as 63 is acted upon by a spring 66, whose pressure or ten sion is regulated by the nut 67 in a manner well understood, so as to adjust the tension on the thread, and by means of the movable carrier for the tension device, herein shown as the pivoted rod or arm 64, the position of the tension device with relation to the needle 41 may be changed substantially in an instant, so as to increase or diminish the length of thread drawn upon by the needle, according to the thickness of the work being sewed. without changing the tension on the thread. In the present instance, the movable carrier for the tension device is shown as a pivoted rod or arm, but it is not desired to limit the invention to this particular form of movable carrier.

By mounting the pinion 17 loose on the main shaft and having its driving pawl 23 carried by the said shaft, the driving gearing for the rotatable carrier 10 of the feed mechanism, may be materially simplified and the cost of the machine reduced, as the gear 13 may be cast or otherwise secured to the carrier.

The needlecarrying crank or arm 45 may have secured to it a guide for the thread, which is preferably made as a wire rod 70, secured at its center to the said crank as by a set-screw 71 and provided at its opposite ends with eyes 72, through which the thread is passed.

To still further simplify the construction of the machine and facilitate assembling the same together, the head d is provided at its opposite sides with depending lugs or ears 7% (see Fig. 2), which straddle the upper end of the post 0 and are secured thereto by rods 75 extended through said lugs and the upper end of the post, which is preferably reduced in width. The rods 75 are secured to the post by screws 7 6 and the head 41 to the rods by screws 77.

The machine is provided with a shield 78, which is similar to that shown in the patent referred to.

In Figs. 1 to 5 is shown one form of disengaging device for the work, but it is not desired to limit the invention to the particular construction shown, as other forms or constructions may be used, as, for instance, that shown in Fig. 6, wherein the bar 31 and arm 38 are shown as separate pieces secured together, and the bar 31 has secured to it a guide pin 80 movable in a socket 81 in the arm or spoke of the wheel.

In the present instance, the base a is normally supported upon three wheels 7) arranged in the form of a triangle, with a single wheel at the rear of the base a and with two wheels located substantially in line with the post.

Provision is made for lifting the rear wheel off of the floor, so that the operator can turn the machine around while supported by the wheels under the post, and, for this purpose, the post has pivoted to it a lever 90, which is adapted to be raised by the operator into engagement with a stop or fixed portion 91 of the post, and after the lever has been engaged with the stop 91, further upward movement of the lever will tilt the machine on the wheels under the post sufiiciently to lift the rear wheel from the floor, and when in this position the operator can turn the machine on the wheels under the post as a center, by means of the lever 90. To prevent the machine being tilted too far when the lever 90 is raised, a wheel 93 is provided at the front end of the base, which is normally raised off of the floor as represented in Fig. 1, but is broughtinto engagement with the floor, if the machine is tilted too far forward when the rear wheel is lifted from the floor. The lifting lever 90 may and preferably will also release a brake 94:, which normally engages the rear wheel I), and is held in engagement therewith by a spring 96, which presses down upon a brake lever 97, which is connected by a link 98 with the lifting lever 90.

When the lever 90 is raised, it lifts the brake lever 97 and compresses the spring 96, and when the lifting lever 90 is released, the spring 96 forces the brake 91 into engagement with the rear wheel 6 and thereby holds the machine firmly on the floor against turning movement, consequently insuring the machine remaining stationary in its operative position.

Claims 1. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a rotatable carrier for the work, a pointed device secured to said carrier to rotate therewith and projecting therefrom to engage the work, a removing device movable with said carrier and independently thereof to disengage the work from said pointed device, said removing device having a portion on the outer circumference of the rim of the rotatable carrier and provided with a portion extended through the said rim to within the carrier, and means located within the carrier to effect movement of the removing device independently of the said carrier.

2. In a machine of the character described, in combination, a feeding device for engaging thework, a movable carrier for said feeding device to effect the feed of the work, said carrier having a recess in its outer surface, a stripping device movable with said carrier and independently thereof to eflect disengagement of the work from said feeding device, said stripping device being normally located in said recess and having an arm extended through the carrier, a spring to normally keep the device in said recess, and a cam to act on said arm and remove the device from said recess.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ORRELL ASHTON.

Witnesses:

JAs. H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

